The Quiet Ones
by Princess Zathura
Summary: It's the quiet ones that you have to look out for. They are usually the darkest of beings. Who knows what goes on inside of their heads? Sometimes they don't even know, but this girl is about to learn more about herself than she ever could have imagined.
1. At the Dream Gate

Yay, new story! Told you guys I wasn't dead yet! Buuuuut, I'm doing this when I should be working on my lab report and my essay right after AP testing, soooo... I'll probably be dead from lack of sleep soon.

Yeah, totally don't own this game. I own a copy that I legally bought from Toys R Us when it came out, but I didn't create it and I don't own the rights, so sucks for me.

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**_At the Dream Gate_**

_This is a dream, right?_

I found myself at the entrance of an unfamiliar gate.

_Of course it is… I remember going to bed… _

I shook my head. Standing there wasn't going to do me any good, I supposed. I looked behind me to see the path I had supposedly come from but found the path leading off a cliff, and beyond that, a vast abyss of nothingness.

_So this is where the sidewalk ends…_

I had no choice but to keep straight and see what lied beyond the gate; I took two hesitant steps toward it. It's not that I was afraid, no. Nothing could hurt me in a dream… I already knew that… But… What if this dream turns into a nightmare? If I wake myself up, I'll have to return to sleep eventually. It's a school night after all… And then… I'll find myself back here… If things take a turn for the worse, I don't want to have to relive the same thing over and over again until the morning comes.

"Why hello there, Visitor."

I squealed and spun in a circle looking for the source of that voice. And then out of nowhere I found myself sitting on my rear and a giant owl in front of my face... that apparently had clothes… and glasses…? Okay, how much sugar did I have before bed?

"Visitor?"

I blinked in surprise when it spoke again.

_Oh shit it talks! What do I do? _I gulped and gave a shy wave and that seemed to satisfy the creature as it backed up a bit so that I could stand up.

"Hoo! You're a shy one, aren't you?" He flew in a circle around me. I shook my head and used my hands to sign to him: _'I don't like to talk.'_

"Mute?" he inquired. I shook my head again and signed: _'I like quiet.'_

One would think that since this is my dream it would be natural for this… giant talking owl to know ASL, but shouldn't he also already know my preferences for silence?

"Well then, Visitor, you may call me Owl." I resisted the urge to snort and roll my eyes. Ay dios mio, my imagination is getting worse by the second. I blame school.

"Al." I said, pointing to myself. Good to know my voice still worked. I remember having dreams where I had gone completely mute or my voice was raspy and hoarse.

"Oh, so you do have a voice, hoo! My name is Owl," He tried correcting me, referring to himself.

"I know that." I said, irritation evident in my voice. "My name is Al. Short for Alexandra." I signed the letters A and L and pointed to myself. He laughed,

"Well then, Visitor, please do feel free to come in. I'm sure you won't find that gate to be very interesting, hoo!"

Actually, it kind of was. The metal work was rather nice and very ornate, but I digress. I followed the giant talking owl just beyond the gate, which wasn't much more impressive. Just a few doorways (some in ruin, others filled), the forest, and a fountain in the center of it all, which I chose to sit by.

"Visitor!" I jumped a little as he suddenly cried my name. I pulled my attention from my surroundings to my feathered companion. "The doors to Nightopia have appeared! You have have ideya!"

I rose an eyebrow, I must have…. What now? Idea? Well I have plenty of those. I just ignored my confusion and nodded blankly. I looked down at my hands and almost gasped… Okay this sounds a lot better in my head and a lot more awkward now that it's in the open, but… I had _blue balls_ on my hands.

…

…

And how that you're done laughing your ass off….

"Blue ideya, the ideya of intelligence."

Oh the well placed foreshadowing irony.

I looked back at the door. That was there earlier, wasn't it? Just as I was going to go toward it, Owl appeared in front of me. I yelped in surprise and fell back in my rear.

"You musn't go through that door just yet, Visitor. It could be dangerous! Who knows what lies beyond that door!" _Well, that's what I wanted to find out ya bloody chicken._ God. The least he could've done was apologize. I mean, I could've fallen onto my back and my head would've hit the fountain and I'd've died!

I slowly picked myself up and dusted my clothes off. "Fine then," I said simply. I wasn't usually one for breaking rules, you see. It ruined my credibility. I turned on my heel and walked off into the forest.

"Wait! Where are you going, hoo!" I paid him no mind. The forest was calm and serene. Thank God that damn bird didn't follow. The trees were gigantic and the grass was lush and healthy… I was in heaven. I stumbled upon a lake and sat down by the edge to watch the brightly coloured fish swim by. The water was clean and clear; I could see the bottom! Down there… I spotted something shiny. I wanted it. But it looked deep, and I've never been much of a strong swimmer… So I had no choice but to stare at it longingly and imagine what it was and what it would feel like in my hands.

"Hello there!"

My peace was disturbed so suddenly that I squealed, causing all of the fish to scatter, and fell into the water. I panicked a little but kept calm enough to get back to the surface and latch onto the shore. I glared up at the cause of the disturbance, and lo and behold, Owl was there too. His 'friend' held her… at least I assumed it was a she… held her hand out to me. I grabbed it and was yanked from the water. Ringing my hair out, I gave a small nod in thanks,

"My name is NiGHTS!" She said in a very feminine British accent, giving a low bow. I nodded, still a bit sore about falling into the lake.

"NiGHTS, lower your voice! You don't want to frighten her! This is Alexandra." He lowered his voice to a whisper, just loud enough so that we both could still hear him, "She prefers quiet." I officially take back any bad thing I've ever said about Owl. NiGHTS looked taken aback and stared at my quizzically, as if she didn't know how to approach me after that.

"Oh, um… I'm sorry about the lake, Alexandra," she whispered.

"It's Al," I said quietly. NiGHTS's face brightened significantly and she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the edge of the lake. It took me a minute to realize… she was flying.

"What… are you?" Her face changed from excited to ashamed. What, had no one ever asked?

"Well…"

"Gender-wise," I clarified.

"Huh?" And now she… he… it… was confused.

"I really don't care about what species you are (though I must admit, you do look rather interesting), I'm more curious whether or not you're a boy or a girl." Wow… I haven't spoken that much in a long time.

"Oh… Well then… I'm a boy…?"

"Then I'm assuming whatever your species is doesn't have puberty then…" I started to circle her… him, curiously.

"What?"

"That's a 'no'. Either that or you've been castrated…"

"What!" I shoved my face in his.

"Hey, have you ever noticed that you don't have a nose?"

"Um… Only in this form…" It was my turn for my face to brighten,

"You have other forms?" I gasped, "And you don't have ears! How can you even hear me?"

"Um…"

"And what's with your hat?" I reached out to grab at it in my excitement, but Owl got in my way.

"Hoo! Calm down now, young Visitor. You're going so fast, we can't keep up!" _That's funny, I don't remember asking you._ I thought to myself, frowning. What a buzzkill.

NiGHTS saw my face fall and sensed my mood suddenly turning sour and found us a distraction to keep this from getting awkward.

"Hey what's that?" He was pointing to the door Owl wouldn't let me go through.

"A door." I said, uninterested. Then Owl chose now as a good time to speak,

"Since NiGHTS is here with you, maybe now is a good time to explore Nightopia without fear."

"Seeing as I know not what to fear in this place, I may have done that already had you let me go through earlier." My tone was rather condescending, but I wasn't sorry. I simply walked off toward the door with those two following after.


	2. Aqua Fauna

**And on to chapter two. Still no reviews. Not fair seeing as this game is so awesome, then again, I'm writing this for pure enjoyment. I don't really care if people read this or not, but it would be nice.  
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><p><strong>Chapter Two: <strong>_**Aqua Fauna**_

As soon as I stepped through that door, I fell downward. I didn't really expect that! I fell slowly through a starry sky before finally (miraculously) landing on my feet, and I found myself in a wondrous world. It was nighttime (as I assumed it should be) and only a lonely full moon was there to illuminate the vast land. I contemplated whether or not I should wait for NiGHTS and Owl to arrive; after all, they said it was dangerous… Then again, my dream, my rules. Those two sloths could suck it. Honestly, where were they anyway? How long can it possibly for someone to walk (or fly) through a door! Oh well, those two weren't my problem.

Behind me was a door with a few stairs leading from the door to the land where I stood. Well, I suppose it wasn't really land. The door was perched atop a rather large flower. I stepped carefully onto one of the petals and had to resist the urge to remove my shoes and feel the softness beneath my feet. You see, my world revolves around touch. When I was younger my parents thought that I may have been autistic because of that fact. I always wanted to touch everything, to feel everything. Honestly, I think my parents may have been happier had I tested positive for autism. My parents are philanthropists; at least, I think that's what the word is. They loved giving money to charities involving disabled children. Personally, I think it's only because it betters their reputation. They're always out somewhere; spending time with the blind, playing with the deaf. They had no time for me, of course. I even got a deaf best friend. I met her at a benefit dinner that my parents took me to. That made my parents proud of me for five minutes. Nancy is the only one who can 'listen' to me whine about my parents for hours and then still want to be around me afterwards. It's a match made in heaven, I swear. Our other friend, Todd, was blind, though you could hardly tell. His hearing was so acute that he knew exactly when to dodge and counter whenever I tried to jump him on the street. I suppose you could call it our personal greeting. I suppose since there's something different about all of us, that's why we get along so well. One year, as a joke, when my parents dragged us to a benefit (actually, I dragged Todd and Nancy along just because) and the benefactor asked us to come on stage to congratulate us on our "diverse friendship" he asked what was "wrong" with each of us and I held my hand over my mouth, Nancy held her hands over her ears and Todd held a hand over his eyes. I got in a lot of trouble afterwards, but it was worth it for the reaction. The room erupted in laughter. I actually smiled.

My flower was surrounded by others of its kind, seemingly floating on a vast ocean. The water was clear and blue. I couldn't help stare curiously at the monopoly of multi-colored fish swimming below the surface. I looked back at the door, wondering what was taking those idiots so long, before jumping over to a large, yellow flower, and from there to a pink one. This place was so beautiful, so calm, so peaceful… but I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. It was nice and all, but I wasn't too fond of the water. If I fell in, I was more than sure it would be game over.

"Whatcha looking at?"

NiGHTS, I hate you.

I screamed at the sudden disturbance, lost my footing, and fell into the ocean below. My limbs were flailing in every direction, trying to somehow make my way back to the surface again, but it was to no avail.

_Wake up… WAKE UP! _My body wasn't responding. I was too scared. I squeezed my eyes shut. This was my dream… I refused to die! I let out an involuntary gasp when it finally hit me that how slow I was falling. It was like when I fell through that door. I took a few breaths, noting that it was in fact air that surrounded me, but also water. The fish swam toward me, probably as curious about me as I was about them. I straightened myself out and allowed myself to fall with some sort of grace.

When my feet finally touched bottom, it was all too soon. I had just gotten accustomed to my slow decent and stumbled a bit as my weightlessness was disturbed. Well, at least it was fun while it lasted.

The world below was even more beautiful than the one above. Down below, it was a forest of thick, green stalks and vines, no down connecting to the flowers overhead. I made sure not to get too engrossed in the scenery as I had done earlier because as if on cue, down came NiGHTS.

"Sorry about that… I must've scared you," he said, rather sheepishly.

_No, I just felt like screaming and tumbling headfirst into the unknown. It's just my style. _The voice in my head deadpanned. I just waved his apology off and sat down. An underwater forest… I played with the sandy ground. I was wondering if I could make a sandcastle. Maybe… The sand felt damp and molded pretty easily.

"What are you doing?" NiGHTS asked.

"Wondering if I can make a sand castle."

"I suppose you could… But why don't we just go to that one over there?" I looked up as NiGHTS pointed ahead of us. There stood a giant sand castle, the flower vines curling around its towers. Shells adorned the walls, glittering in the moonlight. NiGHTS must've seen my enamored expression and took the opportunity to try and earn my favor. He gave a gentlemanly bow and held his hand out to me,

"Shall we go, my lady?" He said this with a little too much flair, but it was enough. Seeing as I was already entranced with the beauty of this world, it would only make sense if I wanted to see more of it. I took his hand, briefly wondering where Owl had gotten to, as he led me inside of the castle. What a perfect prince.


	3. Sand Castles

**Chapter 3: **_**Sand Castles**_

I like shiny things; I really do. Then again, who doesn't? They're just so pretty and sparkly. Inside the castle, there was a central light source; what looked to be a giant glowing bubble emitted enough light to illuminate the entire castle but somehow was dim enough not to blind us.

"It's so pretty," said my companion. I just nodded in agreement. The light reflected off of the sandy walls, making the very room seem to glitter. Before us was a purple and gold carpet and tapestries adorning the walls to match. Beautiful shells lined the carpet and our path forward. We stopped just under the bubble to take in our surroundings some more. In front of us was a pair of thrones; for the king and queen. On either side of the thrones were winding staircases and on either side of those were large doors leading to the rest of the castle. The light in my eyes died down, along with my excitement.

"What's wrong?" NiGHTS asked me, somewhat alarmed at my crestfallen look. I sighed,

"This is just how I'd always imagined it."

"Imagined what?" I looked up at him,

"When I was little, my nanny would always take me to the beach on hot days. Her excuse was always 'the animals no wander the desert when is hot, Pisoi, they find water, and so will we'." I sighed, "She used to tell me about the castles back in her homeland and how something once so great had fallen into ruin. I'd help her rebuild these castles and we'd have parties and banquets and balls and…" I stopped. Why the hell was I telling him this? If this was all my dream, surely he should already know. I must enjoy hearing myself speak since I do so, so rarely.

"And?" I heard him ask. I looked up to see his face right in front of mine. I jumped back and fell on my rear. This was becoming a trend. NiGHTS, who had until recently been floating next to my head, smiled sheepishly and offered his hand out to me. Taking it reluctantly, I stood once more.

"Sorry… I guess I got a bit excited." So apparently the whole "Peter Pan Happy Thoughts" factor applies here too.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" In an instant, NiGHTS gripped my hand tightly and I found myself behind him. Another being, this time in a much darker color scheme than NiGHTS, stood before us. NiGHTS seemed tense, though I brushed it off. This was my dream after all, why should I be afraid?

This other… thing, I'll call him Nega-NiGHTS for now, approached us in the same cocky, floaty manner that NiGHTS had seemingly all of the time.

"Another visitor?" Nega-NiGHTS came closer, getting in both NiGHTS's and my faces. "One would think that you would have learned by now."

"Leave her alone, Reala!"

Reala? That's an interesting name. This 'Reala', unlike NiGHTS had a distinctly male voice, and a mask covering his face, as well as a feather fetish, apparently, which made me quirk an eyebrow.

"Or what? Are you going to play the hero again?" Well, it looked like this was going to get ugly fast, and I had no wish to witness this scuffle when there was so much to do before I awoke. I wriggled my hand free from NiGHTS's grip and began to walk toward one of the thrones that had so gathered my attention.

"Al, what are you doing?" NiGHTS squealed in alarm,

"Well it looks that this little visitor had grown tired of you, dear brother!"

"Actually, I'm rather tired of your bickering, so either you two can fight, or you can watch as I just sit here and find something else to capture my attention. Either way, I don't intend on paying any attention to what you're doing." I said, sitting in the thrown to the left and swinging my feet over the armrest so that I was sitting sideways. Both NiGHTS and Reala looked shocked, not that I cared very much, though, I had to admit, the looks on their faces was rather amusing. Reala's astonishment quickly turned to rage as in the blink of an eye, he was in my face, snarling and gnashing his teeth.

"You want to play with me, little girl?" I batted my eyes innocently.

"You want a breath mint, mister?" Reala seized my throat and hoisted me in the air. I happily fell limp in his arms and he shook me around a bit. How cute, he thinks he's scary. There's nothing to fear in my imagination except fear itself. So I kick him between the legs. It must've hurt, even though there was nothing there. He screamed and dropped me back onto the soft cushions of the chair.

"You little…" He reached for me again, but NiGHTS, who had since awoken from his stupor, rushed to my aid. He knocked Reala away from me and stood between us protectively.

"This isn't over, brother." Reala growled before disappearing. NiGHTS and I were silent for a moment before the silence became uncomfortable and I spoke,

"That was fun."

"Fun?" He turned to me, "You're insane! He could've killed you! Weren't you scared?" I blinked,

"No."

Fear? There was nothing to fear in this world, my dream, was there?


End file.
